Dog Days
by fixations
Summary: After a breach of his summoning contract Kakashi is forced to exist as a dog for an indeterminate amount of time. The first person he runs into is Sakura who becomes determined to take care of this strange dog. Kinda Sasuke/Sakura but mainly Kakashi/Sakura. Set right after the Fourth Great Ninja War.
1. The Breach

Kakashi was always an incredibly charming man. He could charm his way out of any situation. His ninken in particular fell victim to his charms moreso than anybody else. For years they followed his orders no matter how small, how tedious. Until one day Kakashi summoned Pakkun.

"I need you to deliver those documents to the Hokage," Kakashi said peering out from a mountain of bubbles in his bath.

"Why can't you do it? You don't look busy," Pakkun said indignantly.

"I was hurt on a mission last month and the doctor said I needed to relax my muscles so I'm relaxing them," Kakashi whined.

"That was a month ago you've been on several missions since. I'm not your service dog!" Pakkun barked.

"Just get the Hokage those documents! I'm not asking for much. They're on the counter in the kitchen," Kakashi said.

"You know what? I've had enough of this," Pakkun said.

"Alright, alright. You can do it later. Its not that urgent," Kakashi said.

Pakkun growled, "Later!? How about I refresh your memory here. Remember when you signed a contract with the ninken? You remember that contract don't you?"

"Sure," he lied.

"Then, I'm sure you remember that we choose the punishment for those who we find to utilize our services in ways we see unfit," Pakkun said.

Kakashi gulped. He did not remember. And he certainly hadn't thought he was mistreating his ninken, after all, they messed with each other but it was always light-hearted and jovial.

"I, uh, guess I don't remember that part," he said.

"I figured. I'm sure you didn't even read the contract. Well, I think its time we put the contract back on the table. I'm going to go with the others and help decide your form of punishment. You won't know when or where it will happen, but I promise you it won't be fun!" And with that Pakkun disappeared out of his bathroom in a puff of smoke.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Kakashi ground, sinking further into his bubble bath.

* * *

AN: This started as a warm up story because I do plan on continuing other stories I have, particularly my other kakasaku story I haven't updated in months. But now I guess its a story story. I'll keep it quick and light!


	2. A Pup Named Kakashiro

A full week went by.

A full, uneventful week of Kakashi's life. He attended the required weekly jounin meeting, went on a relatively simple two-day mission just outside of Konoha, did his grocery shopping for the week, and even managed to swing by the ramen shop to briefly reconnect with his former students. The week went by so regularly he had forgotten about Pakkun's warning. And suddenly 'poof'!

He ran on all fours toward the nearest reflective surface; the window of a local lingerie shop that featured some stiff looking mannequins in black lacy underwear and matching bodices. Making quick and brief contact with the alluring display he caught himself in the reflection. A dog. Kakashi had been transformed into a dog. 'What is this?' he thought to himself, 'A transformation jutsu?' He sat on his hind legs and attempted to make a hand sign with his two front paws. 'Release!' he commanded, to no avail. 'Damn it,' he growled, 'Is this Pakkun's revenge?'

Just as he was ready to run off in search of the ninken's scent, the door of a shop opened with a soft ring of its bell. Sakura walked out holding a decently sized, and discreetly brand-nameless paper bag. Kakashi trotted towards her hoping she might recognize him. He plopped himself down in front of her and pawed at her leg.

"Oh! Hi there little guy," she bent down and began petting the dog. "Hmmm, I wonder who you belong to…" she said, searching for any identifying characteristics indicating Inuzaka clan relations or a collar. "You're too handsome of a dog to be running around out here all alone, aren't you?" she cooed, "If you come home with me, I'll help you find your owners. How does that sound?"

Kakashi licked his own nose; a strange feat he could never have done in human form and strangely naturalistic. 'Perhaps if I stay with Sakura I'll be able to find a way to let her know its me. She could help me with her medical expertise,' he plotted.

Sakura's apartment was considerably more modest than Kakashi's but she certainly had a lot more personal belongings, making the already rather tiny apartment feel even more cramped. Kakashi imagined how much more stifling it would be if he was human-sized.

"Hmmm… You look like a silver haired German Shepard…. What should I call you for now...?" she spoke to the dog. Having always been particularly bad at naming her previous childhood pets (mainly goldfish) she settled on Shiro. "Get it? Because you're a white dog. But I guess you're more grey than white… Hmmm oh well. You wouldn't understand either way! You're just a dog," she spoke somewhat absentmindedly.

'Oh great,' Kakashi thought, 'Sakura is just going to use me as a sounding board.'

"Do you think I should wear the black dress? Or the red dress? Ahh, you're right; the black dress does give the illusion to curves i desperately need," she said, confirming Kakashi's prediction.

Sakura had been dating Sasuke for a few weeks now. Well, to say "dating" would be generous. They would meet up one on one and get dinner and drinks and he would return Sakura to her apartment promptly at around 11pm. No nightcaps, no goodnight smooches.

Kakashi remembered overhearing a conversation about it to Naruto. "Yeah, maybe he's just nervous or something…" she said.

"Hm, I dunno! I mean, he hasn't been around for a few years and he's just now getting back to a normal life. I don't think he's ever even had a normal life. He's probably just having trouble adjusting," Naruto replied in the most light-hearted but simultaneously reassuring voice he could muster.

Kakashi thought Sasuke was just using Sakura to make his integration back into Konoha appear a bit more seamless than it actually was. He could tell his former student was having trouble adjusting. But Sakura was so thrilled to bask in his glow that she didn't seem to care. Truthfully, she was well-aware he was just using her to keep up appearances and she forcefully denied herself that thought. Her reasoning was that perhaps if she'd stuck through it long enough, he would discover some bright light he'd never seen in her before. The "fake it till you make it" method.

Kakashi felt a tinge of pity for the girl.

"I should try to invite him up for tea or coffee again tonight. I know he said no, like, four times but I think he just picked up on my lack of confidence. I need to be more confident," she said out loud as though the big white dog were a childhood best friend. She leaned back against her chair with a sigh before turning around and facing the dog. "I should take you out for a walk before I go. And get you some dog food! Crap! I'm no good at taking care of animals!"

Sakura left teetering carefully on her red high heels in a hurried manner and arrived with a small bag of dog food, two bowls, a couple of chew toys, a roll of plastic bags, and a matching leash and collar combo. Now, having practiced with her heels she walked more gracefully. She filled one bowl covered in a blue and green paw print design with food and walked into the kitchen to fill the other bowl with water. "Shiro" ate the food gratefully but Kakashi couldn't quite figure out how something so bitter and awful tasting can go down so easily without inducing his gag reflex. He wolfed up every bit of food and lapped at the water afterward, feeling satiated.

Sakura adjusted the navy blue collar around the dog's neck and clipped the leash around the silver hoop. "Let's go, Shiro! I sure hope you're trained…" she added apprehensively. "We'll make some posters for you tomorrow. How about that?" Kakashi, aka Shiro, whined in response.

Kakashi hadn't really considered much of what domesticated canine life consisted of. Going number two in a small patch of grass by the sidewalk and having his sweet, pink-haired former student pick it up with a plastic shit bag was something that would surely traumatize him long after they cure his doggie disease. "Good boy, Shiro! Now promise me you won't poo or pee in my apartment!" Sakura said with even more apprehension in her expression than ever. 'I promise I won't,' thought Kakashi.


	3. Ruff Date

Sakura was nervous. ' _Was showing up to the bar early good or bad? Should I have kept him waiting?_ ' she pondered while sitting at the bar drinking some sort of limey-tasting alcoholic concoction that was the special for the night. She wasn't big on alcohol, but she needed a bit of liquid courage everytime she went on a date with Sasuke.

"I wonder if thats a bad sign?" she said, thinking out loud. "If what's a bad sign?" She jumped, and turned around and out of her startled state when she saw the face of the Uchiha she was waiting on for the past fifteen minutes. "Ah, nothing! I'm just thinking out loud. I didn't mean…." she stopped herself from over-talking as Sasuke took a seat at the stool next to her.

He ordered himself sake and resumed the conversation they were having from their last encounter outside of the hospital. "So how's that one patient with the mutilated arm that was giving you trouble?" he asked without looking at her.

"Huh? Oh that was resolved last week. We sedated him three times and had to have, like, five medics in the room to work on him but he came out fine. It was tough though. Especially when the room got so cramped with medics and nurses all crowded around this one man's arm. And when we found out his arm was poisoned and he was at high risk for having it spread throughout his body; oh boy. We had to consult with an extra two poisons experts to figure out how to proceed! It was wild! He's fine though. I mean, we had to amputate the arm but..." She spoke about work enthusiastically.

"That's interesting," he said after a sip of his sake.

When she realized he hadn't even casted a single glance toward her, the enthusiasm retreated and she looked down at her hands on her lap.

After a pause she spoke, "Um, what about you, Sasuke? I hear they might make an exception for you not being around and just bump you up to jounin!" Sasuke shrugged and sipped. Sakura took a gulp of her fruity drink, suddenly feeling embarrassed by its proud red and orange umbrella poking out so happily as if to mock her. "It won't make a difference right now anyway. I'm on probation for a year and won't actually be allowed on any outside missions," Sasuke said.

"Right," she said monotonously.

* * *

While Sakura's date was finishing up, Kakashi roamed around her apartment looking for something to write on. When he finally managed to knock over a small notepad and pen from her desk, he realized his lack of opposable thumbs mean that writing a letter would be impossible. He whined, feeling like an idiot. 'What should I do now?' he thought. He began freely investigating Sakura's room as best as he could for anything he could arrange into a sign that he needed help. Instead all he found were a couple of her b cup bras, a pile of shoes by the door that he tried not to look at (the temptation was hard to resist), and a couple of stuffed bears with bows that he had to isolate himself from as well. He sunk into the soft, white carpet in her cramped living room. A couch, bookcases filled with medical texts and romance novels, a television set on a dark stand, empty plates and glasses on the end tables, piles of clothing that look like whole outfits that were shed off at the end of the day in different spots around the house, a small mirror and a pair of tweezers on the coffee table. 'Is this how girls live when they're on their own?' he wondered. He grabbed the fresh dog toy Sakura bought him and chewed on it for a while.

'Being fed, belly rubs, sleeping whenever I feel like it… Maybe I can get used to this lifestyle for a little while…' and then he fell asleep.

BAM

Kakashiro was awoken by the door slamming open. He quickly lifted his head and turned his groggy, sleep-filled eyes to the door. He was expecting a heart-broken Sakura coming home after another failure of a date with Sasuke but instead he was faced with the sight of the two of them hastily making out, pulling desperately at each other's clothes. 'Oh no.'

"Ah, so you weren't lying about the dog," Sasuke said in between one of their brief makeup breaks in a low, husky tone.

* * *

Sakura was beginning to give up all hope. The date wasn't going well. They had seemingly exhausted their choice topics of the night. She was feeling a bit beyond tipsy after a few drinks and by the fifth minute of complete silence between the two of them she was ready to bolt out of there. But before she could, Sasuke looked up at the clock behind the bar and turned to Sakura, "I think it's time I take you back to your place." Sakura nodded, flushed with anger, resentment, embarrassment, and alcohol.

Sakura was wringing her hands together, trying to diffuse the bomb she might unleash. It was no use. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Sasuke?" They both stopped walking. "What?" he seemed a bit taken aback. "You keep taking me out on these so-called dates and for what? Are you just using me, or what!? I can't keep playing along," she was mostly angry but now there were tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm not using you, Sakura…" he said approaching her slowly, "Truth is I'm just… I'm nervous."

This development took her by surprise, "What do you have to be nervous about?" she asked.

"I owe you a lot. I attacked you, your friends, everything. And I knew that whole time that you loved me and it was easy to ignore then when things were… different for me. But I want to make up for it and I want to talk about those things and I guess I was waiting on the right time but I wasn't sure when that time was. I supposed it's now. I'm sorry, Sakura. I know how much pain I've caused you and I would like to make up for it if you'll let me."

Sakura stood there dazed for a moment. Suddenly it felt as though her legs were moving on their own; one foot in front of the other until she was only an inche away from him. She felt brave in this moment. Brave enough to walk close enough to him to feel his body heat emanating from him. And brave enough to kiss his lips firmly but softly. "I'll let you," she said in a half whisper and the two walked on, hand in hand.

Sakura was dreading it the moment her bright blue door came into her line of sight. Each footstep felt like the tick of a time bomb. She knew she had to be strong to get what she wanted and then she remembered. "Oh! Do you know anybody missing a white dog?" she said. Sasuke looked at her, "Why?" "I found one. Inside. I mean, he's inside my apartment right now. Um, he didn't have a collar when I found him but he looked too well-groomed, ya know?" she said, reaching into her purse to fish out her keys. "Do you wanna see?" Sasuke looked at her in that tight-fitting little black dress and high heels, the lipstick and the hairs losing their position in her undo and falling around her soft face and he made his decision. "Sure."

There was nothing Kakashiro could do to hide. They were unzipping and tossing articles of clothing so quickly and right in the living room. He went to the kitchen but his impeccable dog hearing couldn't block out the moans and sighs and dirty talk coming from the stoic Uchiha himself.

Kakashi was beginning to regret any and all wrongdoing he might have ever done to his pack of dogs.


	4. The Morning After

Kakashiro decided all he could do was make as much fuss as possible in hopes of directing their attention away from coitus. He began barking and whining at the couple and scratching at the door to go outside. The pair continued ravaging each other, having only gotten as far as the small living room sofa.

Eventually he hears Sakura groan in defeat. She urged Sasuke off of her and rose to her feet. Kakashiro tried desperately to tear his eyes away from his former student but found the task utterly impossible as she shyly held her shirt over her chest with a smile toward Sasuke that seemed to spell out "I'm so sorry about this." Her cheeks were a sweet shade of pink but of embarrassment or from drinking; it was impossible to tell. Kakashiro got a glimpse of her perky, soft-looking breasts with nipples a shade of darker pink than the hair on her head. He also got a glimpse of her long, slender legs leading up to a very scant lacy white thong before she briskly smoothed down the black skirt that had recently been bunched up around her torso. He quickly looked away.

Sasuke looked on with disappointment. He frowned at the dog and put his shirt back on. "You know, it's getting late. I should probably head back. I have to get up early tomorrow for some evaluation with the Hokage," he said. "Oh but… Okay…" she said, resigned. She put on a stray shirt she found of hers on the floor, one that she wasn't wearing before and certainly didn't match. "Well, at least walk this dog with me before you go."

The next morning Sakura found herself waking up in bed with the dog. In a sleepy daze Kakashiro had sought a source of heat due to Sakura's unusually chilly temperature preferences. He ended up on her bed, next to her feet. It didn't last long with all her kicking so he moved to the group of pillows next to her and comfortably fell asleep. When Sakura woke up, he was still deeply dreaming, his face and body twitching reactively. He was dreaming of Sakura, half naked and waiting for him on the couch. In the dream, there was a strange sense of urgency. He felt in some sense that Sasuke was closing in on her though he hadn't made a visual appearance in the dream. he knew he had to make his move fast but his body was paralyzed and his worm's eye view of the couch made Sakura seem so much harder for him to reach. When he woke up, he felt terrified. 'God, I really don't want to have these images of Sakura in my head anymore,' he thought.

"Good morning Shiro." Sakura woke up gracelessly, poking her head out of the white blanket revealing her messy pink bed-head. She rubbed her eyes awake and yawned with a big dramatic stretch; a move that Kakashiro could do without as he noticed how thin the fabric of her white sleeping shirt was. She dragged herself out of bed and wearing nothing but her thin white shirt and a pair of simple white cotton underwear with lace trim she began doing some morning stretches. Kakashiro audibly whined at the sight, tearing his hungry eyes away from her figure. "Are you hungry, Shiro-kun?" she asked mid-stretch. She walked out of the room and into the kitchen where Shiro followed and awaited his breakfast. As he ate Sakura disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower and brush her teeth. And with impeccable timing while Sakura poured her milk into a bowl of cereal, there was a knock on the door.

Before Sakura could even look up, the door was opened and in came her blonde, purple-clad best friend Ino.

"Morning, forehead! Getting a late start aren't you?" she cast her glance to Kakashiro who was casually laying on the floe next to the air conditioner vent. "You got a dog? I always had you pinned as more of a lonely cat lady spinster type," she laughed.

"Shut up Ino-pig! I just found him on the street and I didn't want to leave him out there," Sakura replied.

"Doesn't look like he's Inuzaka… Maybe he's one of Kakashi's," Ino offered.

"Yeah I was gonna see if maybe I could track him down today and get his help. Even if Shiro's not one of his I'm sure he could help me out," said Sakura, "Its odd though… I haven't seen him in a few days…" Kakashiro perked up after hearing his name in conversation and began whining to get Sakura's attention.

"A few days? And you're worried after a few days?" Ino asked.

"Well, yeah I usually see him around a lot. We all go out as Team 7 for a weekly ramen lunch but in between those we usually run into each other at the market and he helps me bring groceries home… And we spar together once or twice a week… And I stop by the park to catch him reading his novels and we feed the birds together for a bit… And he's not on any missions. I would know…" Sakura said absent-mindedly.

"Geez, Forehead! Why don't you marry him already!" Ino snorted.

"Don't be a pig! He's my sensei! Aren't you close to your teammates?" Sakura retorted.

"I mean, not THAT close! And definitely not with my sensei. But I guess if my sensei was all hot and mysterious and had all those sexy rumors floating around him I would hang around him like that," Ino teased.

"Oh gross, Ino! He's… older. And how would you know if he were hot? And what sexy rumors? You know what? I don't even want to know." Sakura asked, glaring at her perverted friend and then redirecting her attention to her bowl of cereal.

"I mean, haven't you seen the way that mask clings to his face? He's got good bone structure he's definitely sexy as hell under there. Plus, he's not THAT old he's, like, the youngest of all our teachers, right? And Konoha girls love to talk," Ino said, "Well, anyway, I heard from that ramen chick that his cock is HUGE and he's really into-"

Kakashiro felt himself shrink. Konoha girls really did love to talk.

Sakura cut her off, "Oh my GOD, Ino-Pig I don't need to hear this!"

"Oh c'mon! Are you telling me that in all the time you two have known each other and been on missions together you never ONCE got curious? Its totally normal to have sexual fantasies about your teachers. Even Tenten has had fantasies about Guy-sensei of all people! She's told me!" Ino said with a fake-vomit sound effect to help properly display her disgust. "But, like, Kakashi is a sexy guy. There's no way you never thought of him slipping his mask down so his tongue could get a better taste of your-"

"PIG STOP!"

"The only reason you're getting so defensive is because you're hiding the truth!" Ino said after a fit of giggles.

Sakura paused for a moment, trying to hide her bright red face by staring deeply into her cereal. Then she mumbled out the words, "Okay… Maybe once or twice…"

Kakashiro felt his heart pounding. If he could force himself to avoid listening to this conversation he would but his perfect dog hearing wouldn't allow it. Now all he could do was stare dumbfounded at his former student who was blushing furiously at her cereal.

Ino's face softened. She had the strangest way of pushing Sakura's buttons and then going back to best friend mode in an instant. "I know, Sakura! I just want wanna make sure you're not a prude! So… How did your date go last night? That's what I'm really here to bug you about. And I promise I won't tell Sasuke you diddled yourself thinking about your sensei 'once or twice.'"


End file.
